Navy pilot John Leppla was credited with shooting down five Japanese aircraft in aerial combat before he was shot down and ...

On this day in aviation history, the Vought SB2U Vindicator, one of the first American monoplane dive bombers, made its first flight on January 4, 1936. The Vindicator would fall into a category ...

while Hornet’s Dauntless dive bombers scored hits that put Shokaku out of action for months. At the same time, however, Japanese attack planes reached the American task force, and in the ensuing ...